strange and random happenstance

An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong returns to Victorian Scotland in the latest in the genre-blending Rip Through Time series.

Modern-day homicide detective Mallory Mitchell has grown accustomed to life in Victorian Scotland after travelling 150 years into the past into the body of a housemaid. She's built a new life for herself. Even though she works as an assistant to forensic-science pioneer Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie, she considers them true friends. And with Gray in particular, perhaps, someday, something more.

Late one night, Gray and Mallory are summoned urgently to the home of Lady Adler, a patron of Gray's undertaking business, and they assume there's been a death in the household. But instead, they arrive in the midst of a seance with a ghost demanding Gray's presence. The ghost is Lady Adler's former maid, who had gone missing but now requests that Gray investigate her murder. Although Gray and Mallory are skeptical, they agree to look into the matter, whether she's dead or alive. But unsure if there's been a murder or not, unable to call out the medium as a fraud, and concerned for the fate of the young maid, Gray and Mallory are once again drawn into a mystery much more puzzling - and more dangerous - than it first seems."

A seance!?! Oh, be still my heart! 

Piccadilly Reckoning by Tracy Grant
Published by: NYLA
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: eBook, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An explosion that rips through the elegant bustle of Mayfair. Three victims who seemingly have no connection to each other. A dangerous weapon. The glamour of Regency London explodes when a carriage carrying a former diplomat is attacked in front of a Piccadilly pub, exposing a deadly web of murder and international intrigue.

Summoned by Bow Street, former spies Malcolm and Mélanie Rannoch rush to the scene to find the wreckage still smoldering. Sir Stephen Strangeways, who is in line for a strategic cabinet post, died in the explosion. Baron Hauke, an Austrian diplomat, and Julien Mallinson, a fellow former agent - and one of Mélanie and Malcolm's closest friends - are seriously wounded. Their lives hang in the balance while questions hang in the air.

No one knows how the three men might be connected or who wants them dead. The search for answers sends the Rannochs deep into their past, from the scandalous history of exiled Queen Hortense Bonaparte to the dangerous intrigues of foreign revolutionaries. Julien's secrets are deeper and more deadly than even his friends know. Mélanie shares some of those secrets. Now she must reveal long buried truths that she's concealed from even her own husband. As the Rannochs race to solve the mystery and prevent a dangerous weapon from falling into the wrong hands, the safety of their country, the lives of their friends, and the future of their marriage hang in the balance..."

Tracy Grant and Regency London are my jam.

A Wasp in the Beehive by Mary Logue
Published by: University of Minnesota Press
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 200 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Salt Lake City, 1881: Brigid Reardon is again on the case when her new employer - a leader in the Church of Latter-day Saints - is murdered in his home.

Still reeling from the violence she encountered in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Brigid Reardon presses on alone to Salt Lake City, where she decides to settle down in what she hopes is a safe community. Things look promising when she's hired to work at the Deseret Bookstore and offered a room in the home of her employer, Mr. Cutter, a high-ranking member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, and his five wives.

Despite Brigid's conflicting feelings about polygamy, she finds the Cutter wives warm and welcoming, and she thinks she may finally be happy here. As she settles in, Brigid learns that Mr. Cutter wants yet another wife, and he is set on Amelia, the daughter of one of his wives from a previous marriage. When Mr. Cutter is found apparently murdered in the women's sewing room, each of the wives (plus Amelia and Mr. Cutter's son) is a suspect, and Brigid knows it's up to her to figure out just who did it. As she continues to work in the bookstore and live with the grieving family, Brigid teams up with the local coroner to investigate - and with her undeniable knack for detection, it's not long before she discovers a telltale clue.

A Wasp in the Beehive continues Brigid's trek west in the United States after immigrating from Ireland with her brother, following her time in Deadwood, South Dakota, in The Streel and in Cheyenne in The Big Sugar. But with everything that has happened, will she stay in Salt Lake City, or will she move on again?"

I think she's moving on after she figures out all the wives were in on it Agatha Christie style.

The Book Club Murders by Maggie Allswell
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 319 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"What Judy's book club doesn't know about murder mysteries isn't worth writing about. Nothing beats cracking a fictional case over some wine and salt and vinegar crisps. But can they put their puzzle-solving skills to the test when the local librarian dies in a real-life murder?

For widower Judy, her murder book club is the highlight of the month: she gets to hear all the local gossip and even discuss a good fictitious poisoning or two. But when local librarian Wendy disappears, Judy follows in the footsteps of her fictional detective heroes only to find her dead in her home, clasping a copy of Romeo and Juliet...

The police rule it a tragic accident, but Judy knows that her friend hated Shakespeare, and suspects foul play. Gathering her fellow book lovers together, soon they discover that several townspeople had motive to want Wendy dead. Was it Nigel from the tavern, who may have been Wendy's secret boyfriend? Or could it be Bryan, the local bookshop owner, tangled in a bitter rivalry with the library?

The plot thickens at a charity murder mystery night held at Nigel's tavern. Suddenly more murders come to light, both real and very badly staged. And when Nigel makes an astonishing revelation, the book club agree it's a plot twist no-one saw coming. Can Judy and her book club solve the mystery before they too fall victim to a killer plot?

An utterly addictive and hilarious new cozy mystery series, perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Robert Thorogood and Faith Martin."

I've been trying to convince my book club for years that we could branch out and solve crimes, but they just want to do a podcast or supernatural investigations. 

Safari Murder Party by Rachel Moore
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this darkly funny, slightly unhinged, heart-pounding thriller, two office rivals must team up to escape wild animals and even wilder coworkers on a corporate retreat gone wrong.

Fletcher Spence is dying for a promotion. And her colleagues are more than happy to oblige.

After three years working seventy-hour weeks as assistant to the most terrifying CEO in the magazine world, Fletcher finally finagled a spot on Cartwright Media's annual corporate retreat - a famously luxurious week on the Cartwrights' private island, where promotions are handed out like party favors. And her plan to snag her dream job as a travel magazine photographer was going great...until her boss's dramatic death reveals his last will and testament: Whoever survives the week will inherit the company.

So now she's stuck on her billionaire boss's safari park island, surrounded by wild animals and on the run from coworkers who've swapped coffee cups for machetes and briefcases for hunting rifles.

To Fletcher's dismay, her only ally might be her boss's insufferably gorgeous son, Waylon Cartwright. Despite their hostile history, Fletcher is at least 80 percent sure he won't try to kill her this week. Plus, his experience on the island might come in handy while they fend off lions and tigers and...marketing executives? Oh my.

While Fletcher battles her own ambitions and her unexpected attraction to Waylon, her power-hungry, bloodthirsty colleagues will do anything to stop them from escaping with their lives. Everyone knows the media industry is cutthroat, but in this safari party, it's never been more true."

Send Help meets Westworld. 

The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh
Published by: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times-bestselling author of Ghosted and The Love of My Life comes an unmissable emotional thriller: an up-all-night, page-turning love story with a very dark secret at its heart.

Carrie and Johan marry on a beach in Thailand only months into their whirlwind romance. Carrie, a British surgical intern, is too happy to care that she's being impulsive. But as the wedding festivities stretch into the night, a group of armed men suddenly swarm the beach, taking Johan away. She never sees him again.

Twelve years later, Carrie is living in the English countryside with her husband, Robin, and their six-year-old twins, running a holiday cottage rental business on the side. One night, she stumbles across an online post in which she discovers that Johan escaped from Thailand years ago, and has been living in Stockholm ever since. As the memories of their passionate relationship flood her, she becomes obsessed with discovering what happened on their wedding day all those years ago.

But just when Carrie thinks she knows what she must do, a shocking twist tears apart everything Carrie thought she knew. The One Day You Were My Husband asks readers what - and whom - they would give up to return to a first love and to the people they once were."

If he wanted her to know she was alive, he would have reached out.

Startup Hell by Caitlin Rozakis
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A hilarious contemporary fantasy about a junior sales witch stuck in corporate hell, who has to evade devilish pacts and her kickass, world-saving, demon-slaying mum to save a (surprisingly hot) demon, and work out how to hit her quarterly target.

Morgan Blackwater's mother is a kickass, world-saving, demon-slaying Shadow Council wizard. As for Morgan? Morgan's a junior salesperson at a tech startup that can't even decide what its product is. But with magic dyslexia and a disinclination to kick ass, Morgan is doing her best carving out a niche for herself in the mundane world.

Leaving work late one night, she discovers her boss dead from the effort of summoning a demon to trade his soul in order to make his quarterly target. The disturbingly-attractive demon, Lucareoth (Luke for short), is trapped here until he finds someone to sell their soul. While trying to sneak Luke out of the building, Morgan runs into her infamous mother. Apparently, someone has been summoning demons and she's here to get to the bottom of it.

Trying to protect Luke from her mother, Morgan gets sucked into the Infernal Plane and discovers hell really is a corporate nightmare. She only gets back home with a promise to deliver a human soul of her own. While her coworkers are really annoying, she's not willing to sacrifice their souls. The company's tech bro CEO, though, is another story.

With Caitlin Rozakis's signature wit, Startup Hell is a contemporary fantasy that exposes the demonic nature of the corporate world."

But does a tech bro even have a soul?

The Arcane Arts by S.D. Coverly
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this thrilling and sensuous dark academia fantasy, an ambitious graduate student and her advisor dive into studying a taboo branch of magic, igniting a dangerous passion between them.

Tucked within an idyllic corner of New England, Newlyn University stands as a bastion for the academic elites. Inside its hallowed halls, students can pursue degrees in medicine, history, technology...or the Arcane Arts - the esoteric study of powerful magical forces. Enter Ellsbeth Storer: long determined to pursue a graduate degree in arcane mechanicals at Newlyn. Headstrong and driven, she convinces Thaddeus Rawlins, one of the field's most celebrated professors, to take her on as a student. Against his better judgment, Rawlins allows her to pursue a thesis on writ magic, the long-forbidden power to control and compel others.

While student and teacher both profess academic interest in the topic, each wants it for their own secret purpose. But they soon discover that Newlyn itself may be hiding the darkest secret of all....

As Rawlins and Ellsbeth undertake their clandestine research, their flirtation crosses into uncontrollable desire, which threatens to bloom into something even more troubling: love. But when their project begins to spin out of control, entangling them in a destructive web of lust and power, the question remains: can two people who are masters of manipulation ever trust each other?"

No, master manipulators can never trust each other. Especially once magic enters the picture.

Calling Me Home by Laurin Becker Macios
Published by: Holiday House
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A beautifully crafted YA novel in verse that follows a 17-year-old girl's backpacking trip across Europe - filled with awe, danger, friendships, and something like love.

Jenny Campbell, recent high school graduate, has spent her unrooted childhood planning for a future she can control: NYU, marketing major, big-city life. But first, a carefully mapped solo backpacking trip through Europe.

Only, the trip doesn't stay on the map. As she travels between countries and memories, Jenny begins to loosen her grip on the life she's scripted. She works at a bookshop in Greece, treks through the Balkans on overnight trains, falls in something-like-love in Rome.

At summer's end, Jenny returns to the States ready to launch her New York City future. And then, she learns she's pregnant. Choosing to end her pregnancy, Jenny tries to keep her plans - but finds she may no longer be the person meant to live them.

Calling Me Home is part classic travel bildungsroman (you can almost taste the ouzo in Greece and feel the wind of Ireland) and part meditation on how abortion is just one piece of a person's story."

The point of backpacking through Europe before college is to make sure you're on the right track.

Glyph by Ali Smith
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From a literary master, a novel of ghosts and history and family legacy, of the unexpected acts of care that shine light into our dark.

Ghosts don't exist.
They don't. End of.
Story, however.
It is haunting.
Everything tells it.

It all starts when Petra and her little sister Patch hear a horrifying story from the past and find themselves making up a ghost.

Is it imaginary? Is it real?

Then it all starts again thirty years later when Petra, now estranged from Patch, finds a phantom horse kicking the furniture to pieces in her bedroom.

What to do? She phones her sister.

In a chiarascuro dance through our increasingly antagonistic era, Glyph asks if we're attending to the history that's made us and to the history we're making.

A funny, warm and clear-eyed take on where we are now, Glyph is about what our imaginations are for and how, in a broken, brutal and divided time, we rekindle care, solidarity, resistance and openness. This anti-war novel, Ali Smith's most soulful, playful and vital yet, is a work of lightness that goes deep to counter the forces currently flattening the modern world."

Ali Smith is a writer who once you read you will never forget.

A Perfect Hand by Ayelet Waldman
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A richly drawn, captivating, and endlessly amusing novel of love and subterfuge between a lady's maid and her clandestine lover, set in the country estates of nineteenth-century England.

Miss Alice Lockey, daughter of a tenant farmer, has by dint of hard work, innate intelligence, and a cunning ability to predict the moods of her betters, raised herself to the lofty status of lady's maid at Alderwick Park. Though her mother has advised Alice to work only until marriage, Alice has thus far resisted the temptations of matrimony among the neighboring widowers and pig farmers, more content to enjoy the fruits of her labor - or at least the portion of it her father will share after it is paid to him. Alice spends her days arranging Lady Jemima Alderwick's blond hair into the latest French styles, chignons and plaits, laundering her lady's surprisingly malodorous petticoats and drawers, and carefully sewing all manner of fripperies, ribbons, lace, and silk flowers, to her lady's bonnets and gowns.

But when a visiting servant, a valet named Charlie Wells, catches her eye, Alice begins to understand the constraints of her position. In a ploy to spend time with the object of her affection, Alice attempts to arrange a romance between Lady Jemima Alderwick and Charlie's employer, one Baronet Sir Nigel Wynstowe. If only they would fall in love - then Alice and Charlie might live together as man and wife! Challenged by Lady Jemima's love for another and Sir Wynstowe's eccentric personality, Alice must use all of her cunning to bring about this unlikely romantic union. Will this low-born servant successfully manipulate the hearts of these lords and ladies? Will Charlie and Alice ever improve their stations? Or, as the beginning of women's suffrage begins to percolate in the drawing rooms and salons of London, will Alice discover a different sort of path for herself?

A deliciously funny, gorgeously detailed, utter enthralling novel, A Perfect Hand is a glorious novel of class, gender, and England on the cusp of enormous change."

With that cover they missed out calling this book A Perfect Hat.

The Hope Keeper by Heather Webb
Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"1919, Washington D.C. Elisabeth Beaumont comes from a renowned jeweler family, but after the untimely death of her twin brother, she's left on her own to run the failing family business. Desperate for work, she approaches the affluent crowd her brother Julien once courted to expand Beaumont Jewelers. Their ringleader is wealthy socialite Evalyn McLean, owner of the world's most infamous gemstone, rumored to curse all who travel within its orbit.

The Hope Diamond.

As Elisabeth is swept into Evalyn's toxic world of dark opulence, the lines defining who she is and where she belongs begin to blur, leading Elisabeth to question all she once believed. She's no longer certain she wants to take over the family business and be beholden to the wealthy elite of D.C. But she can't fathom leaving her father in the lurch. There's also Evalyn to consider, and the Hope Diamond, which beckons Elisabeth to admire it, touch it, care for it, despite every warning she's been told.

When tragedy strikes one night, not only is Elisabeth's fragile friendship with Evalyn put to the test, but her carefully constructed glamorous new life comes crashing down. Now Elisabeth must face the truth about her brother's death and decide what matters most."

On the whole, jewels don't interest me. Cursed jewels on the other hand? Oh yeah.

Salomé by Leslie Baird
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A gothic-tinged fever dream that reimagines the young American in France, Salomé follows an adrift journalist who accepts an alluring stranger's invitation to stay at her home in a small French town, only to uncover a dangerous family history that could bend the course of humanity.

Don't open your eyes...

Courtney notices Salomé the moment she steps onto the plane. She's magnetic, quicksilver, and, best of all for incurable Francophile Courtney, French. So when Salomé invites Courtney to her mother's town in northwestern France, Courtney doesn't even have to think about it.

But things are, almost immediately, surreal. Despite feeling right at home with Salomé, Courtney is confronted by a house outfitted with cameras and the dark, watchful presence of Salomé's mother. Courtney senses she should leave, but with Salomé she feels as if she's rediscovered the "French Courtney," an alternate version of herself who made a life in France.

That is, until she starts to experience paralyzing nightmares in which strange voices intone Don't open your eyes...and encounters Salomé's charismatic stepfather, Marco, whose pyramid-scheme vitamin company offers a tempting segue into an even more insidious group obsessed with eternal life. Or is it an actual cult? And how much does Salomé really know? As a conspiracy unfurls, Courtney is torn between her loyalty to Salomé and what might be the story of a lifetime, the kind that could make a journalist's career - if it doesn't kill her first.

A modern reclamation of the original femme fatale whose story, until now, has been almost exclusively told by men, Salomé is a tantalizing, feminist tale exploring power, loyalty, connection, and the measures we'll take to harness our deepest desires."

I like the hints of Bluebeard as well.

The Temptation of Charlotte North by Camilla Bruce
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a sinister spirit invades an isolated community, three lives will be forever altered, in this dark gothic fantasy from the acclaimed author of At the Bottom of the Garden.

A rebellious young woman desperate to escape her predetermined life.

The handsome but married priest who has caught her eye.

And the resolute schoolteacher who values science above all.

In 1910, on a small, remote island that boasts more sheep than people, the fates of Charlotte North, Jasper Hill, and Ruth Russel are perched on the edge of a cliff, and a strange wind is blowing....

When an ancient tower - rumored to have once imprisoned a witch - crumbles, it releases something powerful: a restless spirit that knocks inside the walls and sends household objects flying. A spirit that seems to be drawn to Charlotte, who sees in it a potential for power and change.

But first she must overcome Jasper's piety and Ruth's fierce determination to banish the terrifying entity. Only then will she gain the power to claim the life that she desires."

Windswept and Gothic, two things I crave.

The Lustrous Dark by Loretta Chefchaouni
Published by: Peachtree Teen
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Sabaa Tahir and Guillermo del Toro comes The Lustrous Dark, a sweeping YA fantasy, in which a young midwife's apprentice rises up to take back the power that's been stolen from women.

Orphaned as a baby, Shay has spent her life training as the midwife's apprentice. Her role grants her stability, yet Shay has always yearned for more. Namely, motherly affection and answers regarding her mysterious birth - neither of which the midwife deems practical to provide.

After Shay discovers her birth mother, Hind, is still alive and addicted to a magical drug called Snow, she determines to get the woman clean. But when Hind betrays Shay to get her hands on more Snow, Shay's abandoned within a deadly forest and forced to rely on a band of monstrous ghouls for safety.

Shay's realm has long stood on the brink of war between the men who control magic and the revolutionaries who want to eliminate it. But in the forest, Shay hears the pleading call of ancient spirits who claim that not only has magic been stolen, but Shay has the power to return it. With the help of a spitfire revolutionary and the boy who's winning over her heart, Shay discovers the horrific truth of who produces Snow and will have to decide for herself whether to heed the spirits' charge or fade into obscurity.

This emotionally raw and gorgeously rendered fairy tale combines the lush worldbuilding of This Woven Kingdom with the mother trauma of Snow White and a dash of Tim Burton. Steeped in mysticism and mythology, The Lustrous Dark confronts injustices against women with a righteous scream that'll inspire readers to rally against the patriarchy and oppressive regimes worldwide.

Perfect for readers who love Political Revolutions, Fighting the Patriarchy, Toxic Mothers, Reawakening the Gods, Ancient Magic, Bone-Chilling Monsters, Haunted Forests, Female Friendships, Fairy Tale Retellings, and Cinnamon Roll Love Interests."

Yes, I love all that. Now can we start a revolution with some ancient Gods?

A Star Cursed Heart by Annie Mare
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two women are cursed to be mortal enemies, despite their love for each other, in this queer, fantastical novel by Annie Mare.

In the lead-up to the Salem witch trials, a desperate man made a deal with the devil - a deal that would drag two families down with him. Now, over 400 years later, the Steadfasts and the Prynnes remain caught in a curse that sentences both families to an existence of rigid rules, torturous consequences, and half-lives.

Lucy Prynne and Ashes Steadfast are the latest to take on the mantle of this centuries-old deal: Lucy, born to try to reap the souls of the hopeful; and Ashes, born to stop Lucy, no matter the cost. But before they inherited their respective curses, it sure felt like Ash's purpose was Lucy. Her best friend, her closest confidant, her true love.

Ash knows the rules. She keeps her head down, her emotions in check, and she fights Lucy, no matter the personal cost. They are doomed to an incessant battle between good and bad, self-righteous and carnal.

Or so Ash thinks. But when she resists her instincts to fight Lucy and finally starts to fight the curse instead, she realizes there might just be a way to end this once and for all. If not in this timeline, then the next. As generational secrets begin to unravel, Ashes and Lucy join forces against the true threat that has haunted their families for centuries, even if it costs them their lives - and their love."

You need to read the fine print when making a deal with the devil and think about your family. Unless you're too self-centered to think of them then you're already damned. 

And Side by Side They Wander by Molly Tanzer
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An intergalactic art heist by a ragtag group of underqualified misfits. What could go wrong?

For three hundred years, humanity's greatest works of art have been on loan at the Greenwood Museum. It was finally time for them to come home...but the alien curators were disinclined to return them.

Force was out of the question. Earth's government was clear: They were not going to press the issue. So, all we had was guile and hubris to fuel our little intergalactic art heist.

My old friend Tarquin was our leader, but not the captain. That was Tchik-tchik, though whether Tchik-tchik was our insectoid pilot's name or species is still unclear to me. Misora, with her extremely illegal biotech mods, was our muscle.

Jack was there to hack the security systems of the biggest museum in the galaxy. He was a sensynth, a sentient synthetic being, and the most powerful machine intelligence on Earth uncorrupted by alien technology.

My name is Fennel Tycho. I'd like to tell you I was there because of my expertise in Art History. Truth is, I was there because without me, Jack would not have agreed to go. He was notorious for being difficult to work with - but it was a mistake to think I could make things any easier.

A meditation on the nature of love, life, and the "culture of the copy," And Side by Side They Wander asks the question: In a future where there are clones, androids, and a sentient mycelium that creates fungal simulacra, who is real and what is fake?"

I love art and art history and taking the discussion of the genuine to outer space and the future is just fascinating. 

Pollock's Last Lover by Stephen P. Kiernan
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set in New York City in alternating time periods - the 1950s and the early 2000s - Pollock's Last Lover is the engrossing tale of two women whose lives collide as they contend with the art and legacy of the brilliant, tragic painter Jackson Pollock.

In 2006, Sotheby's sells a painting by Jackson Pollock for $140 million - the highest sum ever paid for a work of art. Two weeks later, an older woman named Ruth Kligman, in high heels and a dusty fascinator, contacts a smaller, less prominent auction house to announce that she was Pollock's lover, and that he gave her his last painting. She declares that it was selfish to keep it in her apartment for fifty years, and that people should see this masterpiece in galleries and museums the world over. The bidding will start at $50 million.

Gwen, an up-and-coming associate at the firm, is assigned the task of verifying the painting's authenticity. For Gwen, an ambitious woman in a field often dominated by men, it is her biggest project yet. And the company must have absolute certainty. Yet each step of the investigation raises larger questions - about Ruth's cunning climb in the art world, and even about what caused Pollock's sudden and violent death.

What follows, in alternating chapters and time periods, is a multigenerational portrait of women's ambition set against the life and work of Jackson Pollock. From smoky Greenwich Village dive bars to glitzy art auctions, from the empty studio of a man once known for his artistic stamina to the fine museums where his works hang, Ruth's controversial painting provides a window into two eras - and the ongoing struggle of women to develop power and freedom on their own terms."

Please don't be like one of my art history professors who was convinced Pollock's death in a car crash was a suicide. In other news, I hated that art history professor with a passion. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ali Smith, Annie Mare, Ayelet Waldman, Caitlin Rozakis, Camilla Bruce, Heather Webb, Jackson Pollock, Kelley Armstrong, Laurin Becker Macios, Leslie Baird, Loretta Chefchaouni, Mary Logue, Molly Tanzer, S.D. Coverly, Tracy Grant

At the Bottom of the Garden by Camilla Bruce
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A murderess becomes the guardian of two very unusual girls in this mesmerizing Gothic novel from acclaimed author Camilla Bruce.

Clara Woods is a killer - and perfectly fine with it, too. So what if she takes a couple of lives to make her own a little bit better? At the bottom of her garden is a flower bed, long overgrown, where her late husband rests in peace - or so she's always thought.

Then the girls arrive.

Lily and Violet are her nieces, recently orphaned after their affluent parents died on an ill-fated anniversary trip. In accordance with their parents' will, the sisters are to go to their closest relative - who happens to be Clara. Despite having no interest in children, Clara agrees to take them, hoping to get her hands on some of the girls' assets - not only to bolster her dwindling fortune but also to establish what she hopes will be her legacy: a line of diamond jewelry.

There's only one problem. Violet can see the dead man at the bottom of the garden. She can see all of Clara's ghosts...and call them back into existence. Soon Clara is plagued by her victims and at war with the gifted girls in her care. Lily and Violet have become a liability - and they know far more than they should."

A very interesting Henry James vibe!

The Weekend Guests by Liza North
Published by: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the vein of Lucy Foley's chilling, atmospheric mysteries, a compulsive, psychological thriller about a group of old university friends whose seaside reunion will end in betrayal and murder.

Five old friends...One reunion to die for.

After years apart, old college friends Aline, Sienna, Rob, Michael, and Brandon reunite in idyllic Dorset, for a weekend at Aline's beautiful house perched on a cliff above the sea. It should be the perfect chance to relax, rekindle friendships, and meet each other's partners; plus, there's a sitter to watch the kids.

What most of the guests don't know, however, is that Aline has called them all together for a reason: someone has threatened to expose the dark crime they committed at university. Long ago, these old friends swore one another to silence, and have never spoken of the deed since. But now, menacing postcards have begun to appear - and Aline is convinced it's one of them turning on the rest.

In Liza North's propulsive and unsettling dual timeline narrative, truths emerge, secrets surface, and long-simmering grudges explode - and by the end of this reunion weekend, at least one of them will be dead..."

I don't know why but any book that is basically a murderous version of Peter's Friends is a book I have to read.

Head Cases by John McMahon
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Head Cases follows an enigmatic group of FBI agents as they hunt down a murderer seeking his own justice in this electrifying - and commercial - series debut.

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI's hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve.

When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action. A second victim establishes a pattern, and the murderer begins leaving a trail of clues and riddles especially for Gardner. And while the PAR team is usually relegated to working cold cases from behind a desk, the investigation puts them on the road and into the public eye, following in the footsteps of a killer.

Along with Gardner, PAR consists of a mathematician, a weapons expert, a computer analyst, and their leader, a career agent. Each of them must use every skill they have to solve the riddle of the killer's identity. But with the perpetrator somehow learning more and more about the team at PAR, can they protect themselves and their families...before it's too late?

With an enigmatic case that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and a thoroughly engaging ensemble cast, John McMahon's Head Cases is a triumph."

I mean, if she wasn't seven wouldn't it be great if Camila was the killer?

The Rules of Fortune by Danielle Prescod
Published by: Mindy's Book Studio
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A daughter's investigation into her family history threatens to destroy their legacy in a gripping novel about power, money, and secrets by the author of Token Black Girl.

On their Martha's Vineyard estate, the Carter family prepares to celebrate. But when the billionaire patriarch dies right before his seventieth birthday, the media is quick to question the future of the multi-industry conglomerate that makes the Carters living legends. Amid the succession crisis, his daughter, Kennedy, is questioning her father's past.

Kennedy is an aspiring filmmaker, and the documentary she'd planned to present at her father's party begins an inquest into the life of a man she never really knew. A thoughtful outlier in an elite and fiercely guarded dynasty, she's not interested in keeping up the appearances that define her impeccably poised mother or in the capitalist games her ruthless brother plays. Kennedy wants only to understand the origins of their empire, and the lethally ambitious man behind it. That understanding comes at a cost.

As a twisted history emerges, the fault lines in the family grow. Torn between morality and the promise of maintaining wealth, Kennedy must decide what's most important - the Carter legacy or exposing the shocking truth of how it was built."

I mean, a character named Kennedy unearthing family secrets? It's totally about THE Kennedys, and I'm all for taking down that corrupt family, even if only fictionally. 

Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a local fisherman is mauled to death, it seems like the only possible cause is a mythical creature in the latest puzzling entry in this USA Today bestselling series.

An ice fisherman is savagely mauled to death in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and an eyewitness claims the man was attacked by a hodag. There's just one problem with that: it's well known that the creature is not real and was created by a local hoaxer. So how could an imaginary creature be chomping on local sportsmen?

The suggestion that a hodag killed someone isn't well received by the townsfolk because of its beloved ties to the town and the money it generates from tourist dollars. Due to this, people begin to suspect the witness is the real killer, especially when it's discovered he has a tangled past with the victim.

The witness to the attack happens to be the nephew of Morgan Carter's bookstore employee, Rita Bosworth, who convinces the professional cryptozoologist to travel to Wisconsin to prove that a hodag not only exists but killed the victim.

Clues may be hard to come by, but one thing's for sure: something killed that man, and that something now has its eyes focused on Morgan."

As a Wisconsinite just seeing that hodag on the cover brings me joy. And yes, I obviously was able to identify it before reading the blurb.

Barbarian's Heart by Ruby Dixon
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The next novel in the Ice Planet Barbarians series, an international publishing phenomenon - now in a special print edition with a bonus novella!

The unthinkable happens when a devastating accident causes Pashov to forget his mate, but Stacy will do whatever it takes to make her family whole again...

The first time I laid eyes on Pashov, we resonated. I was happy and in love, and we were raising a beautiful child together. All of that was torn apart when the world shook.

My mate nearly died.

He woke up from his coma...but he can't remember me. Or our son. Every memory of the past two years is gone. And that changes everything between us. How can I love someone who doesn't remember me?

How can I not when I know he's still my mate underneath it all?"

It's cold out, Valentines is near, come enjoy the Ice Planet Barbarians series!

A Lady Would Know Better by Emma Theriault
Published by: Entangled: Amara
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Get ready to swoon for this dreamy, forget-me-not romance that's filled with the delightful tartness of Jane Austen and the sweeping, unputdownable drama of Bridgerton.

There are many things an English lord might encounter on the grounds of his wintry estate. Trees. Birds. Perhaps a wandering gamekeeper. Instead, the Earl of Belhaven finds a woman in the snow, unconscious and nearly frozen to death. Then her luminous gray eyes open just long enough for her to plead, "Don't let them get me."

Now Jasper Maycott has his hands full with a woman who has absolutely no memory of who she is or where she came from - to say nothing of her name! Just a gold ring, some fine clothes, and a penchant for pert conversation. But while "Jane" dresses and speaks quite like a lady, Jasper can't make any assumptions. After all, she could be a crafty fortune hunter...albeit a charming and unutterably beautiful one.

Only there's no room for romantic love in the Earl of Belhaven's world. There is just grim duty, a lingering sense of loss, and the knowledge that love - in any form - can only bring heartbreak in its wake.

But while a lady should know better, the heart heeds no rules...even if its every beat portends the danger she was running from."

Well hopefully the danger will be dealt with and a HEA is on the cards. It should be if Jane Austen and Bridgerton are anything to go by...

Lord of Intrigue by Nina Jarrett
Published by: Rogue Press
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A mysterious heir is on his way to England. Will Molly be able to find her place in his household, or will a tragic fate befall one of them within the week?

In this steamy mystery romance, two people are thrust together on the ashes of a disastrous murder plot. Now they must find a way to work together despite the unexpected attraction between them.

No one knows the new heir...

Marco Scott has never been to England, but now he is next in line to a title. Surrounded by potential enemies, he must find his footing in this strange land. Learning he is to act as guardian to an enticing young woman only makes matters more complicated.

A ward stuck in a stranger's home...

Molly Carter is handed over to the new heir, a man no one knew existed until it was revealed a peer was murdered to conceal his existence. To make matters worse, he might be the most beautiful man alive, which is making her blurt out the most embarrassing nonsense.

But someone is not happy that Marco will inherit. Danger lurks in the shadows, and he can't inherit if he's dead. Can Molly and Marco come to terms with their newfound passion to solve the mystery before one of them ends up in a grave?

Lord of Intrigue is the delightful fifth book in the Inconvenient Scandals series of steamy Regency suspense romance books. If you like worthy heroes, fast-paced plots, and enduring connections, then you'll adore Nina Jarrett's charming novel. Can be read as a standalone book."

That cover captured by imagination, and then the blurb? Yeah, I gotta read it.

The Girl Made of Stars by K.E. Le Veque
Published by: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 346 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lola Grayson had it all.

In 1934, Lola was on top of the world. Dubbed "The Siren" by MGM, she was a protégé of Louis B. Mayer, the original talkie sex symbol before the rise of stars like Carole Lombard and Jean Harlow. But like Harlow, Lola Grayson had a dominant stage mother and bad health that struggled to meet the demand of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Exploited, pushed, primped, and promoted as MGM's biggest star, Lola Grayson made one fatal mistake - falling in love with fellow MGM star Robert Taggart. Together, they were the golden couple that audiences demanded to see. But Lola wanted what every young woman at the time wanted - a husband and a family. For a major star, that was a death sentence.

Lola Grayson's death rocked the world.

In the present day, Joey Cabot is a novelist with a struggling career. In a stroke of fate, she purchases Lola Grayson and Robert Taggart's former home in Los Angeles. It was a secret love nest they kept hidden from the world, but what comes out of the old walls is a secret no one wanted to see the light of day. Something so explosive that it could lay Hollywood history wide-open. In discovering that secret, Joey sees the salvation of her career, but it soon becomes apparent that Joey isn't working for her salvation, but for Lola's.

Old Hollywood glamour and tragedy brings together two lost souls in this masterpiece fictional tale of one woman's death... and one woman's life."

I'm such a sucker for Old Hollywood.

There's Something About Mira by Sonali Dev
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 317 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes the heartfelt story of a woman determined to reunite a lost ring with its owner, who ends up finding herself along the way.

Mira Salvi has the perfect life - a job she loves, a fiancé everyone adores, and the secure future she's always imagined for herself. Really, she hasn't a thing to complain about, not even when she has to go on her engagement trip to New York alone.

While playing tourist in the city, Mira chances upon a lost ring, and her social media post to locate its owner goes viral. With everyone trying to claim the ring, only one person seems to want to find its owner as badly as Mira does: journalist Krish Hale. Brooding and arrogant, he will do anything to get to write this story.

As Krish and Mira reluctantly join forces and jump into the adventure of tracing the ring back to where it belongs, Mira begins to wonder if she is in the right place in her own life. She had to have found this ring for a reason...right? Maybe, like the owner of the lost ring, her happy ending hasn't been written yet either."

There's a certain serendipity to Sonali Dev's latest book...

Abduction of a Slave by Dana Stabenow
Published by: Head of Zeus - An Aries Book
Publication Date: January 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The gripping new historical mystery from New York Times bestselling author Dana Stabenow. In Cleopatra's Egypt, the clouds of war are on the horizon...

Cleopatra, seventh of her name, all-powerful ruler of Egypt, has found her most able and trusted agent in Tetisheri, her Eye of Isis. So when Tetisheri asks permission to visit the Kingdom of Cyrenaica, she is surprised - and suspicious - when her queen grants her leave from Alexandria.

A middleman in Cyrenaica has ceased communication and Tetisheri's uncle, a master trader, is on a mission to find out why. But there are others in Cyrenaica with hidden agendas: Julius Caesar's spies, Caesar's sworn enemy Mettelus Scipio, and the ever duplicitous King Juba I.

Tetisheri soon realises why Cleopatra consented to her mission, for Cyrenaica is a web of intrigue that also includes Pompey's widow and an army readying to take on the might of Caesar, who is massing his legions in Sicily. With war on the horizon, Tetisheri's skills will be stretched to the limit as she also tries to decipher a murder mystery closer to home."

I am ALL. ABOUT. EGYPT! Especially with a side of Rome!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Annelise Ryan, Camilla Bruce, Dana Stabenow, Danielle Prescod, Emma Theriault, Henry James, John McMahon, K.E. Le Veque, Liza North, Nina Jarrett, Peter's Friends, Regency, Ruby Dixon, Sonali Dev, Wisconsin

All the Blood We Share by Camilla Bruce
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: November 22nd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sinister novel based on the real Bloody Benders, a family of serial killers in the old West bound by butchery and obscured by the shadows of American history.

The winds shift nervously on the Kansas plain whispering of travelers lost and buried, whispering of witches. Something dark and twisted has taken root at the Bender Inn.

At first the townspeople of Cherryvale welcome the rising medium Kate Bender and her family. Kate's messages from the Beyond give their tedious dreams hope and her mother's potions cure their little ills - for a price. No one knows about their other business, the shortcut to a better life. And why shouldn’t their family prosper? They’re careful. It’s only from those who are marked, those who travel alone and can easily disappear, that the Benders demand their pound of flesh.

But even a gifted seer like Kate can make a misstep. Now as the secrets festering beneath the soil of the family orchard threaten to bring them all to ruin, the Benders must sharpen their craft - or vanish themselves."

The Bloody Benders are IN this year. Which makes sense, any true crime aficionados will point out they are the least exposed of true crime mysteries.

At Midnight: 15 Beloved Fairy Tales Reimagined edited by Dahlia Adler
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: November 22nd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dazzling collection of original and retold fairy tales from fifteen acclaimed and bestselling YA writers.

Fairy tales have been spun for thousands of years and remain among our most treasured stories. Weaving fresh tales with unexpected reimaginings, At Midnight brings together a diverse group of celebrated YA writers to breathe new life into a storied tradition. You'll discover...

Dahlia Adler reimagining "Rumpelstiltskin,"
Tracy Deonn, "The Nightingale,"
H. E. Edgmon, "Snow White,"
Hafsah Faizal, "Little Red Riding Hood,"
Stacey Lee, "The Little Matchstick Girl,"
Roselle Lim, "Hansel and Gretel,"
Darcie Little Badger, "Puss in Boots,"
Malinda Lo, "Frau Trude,"
Alex London, "Cinderella,"
Anna-Marie McLemore, "The Nutcracker,"
Rebecca Podos, "The Robber Bridegroom,"
Rory Power, "Sleeping Beauty,"
Meredith Russo, "The Little Mermaid,"
Gita Trelease, "Fitcher’s Bird,"
and an all-new fairy tale by Melissa Albert."

There's nothing I love more than a good fairy tale retelling, and look, "The Nutcracker!"

The World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: November 22nd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A new collection of hilarious, intergenerational anecdotes full of absurd detail about everyday experiences of racism from the New York Times bestselling authors of You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey, comedian Amber Ruffin and her sister Lacey.

Families may not always see eye to eye; we get on each other's nerves, have different perspectives and lives - especially when we consider how we've grown up in different generations. But for the Ruffin family and many others, there has been one constant that connects them: racism hasn't gone anywhere.

From her raucous musical numbers to turning upsetting news into laughs as the host of The Amber Ruffin Show or in her Late Night with Seth Meyers segments, Amber is no stranger to finding the funny wherever she looks. With equal parts heart and humor, she and her sister Lacey Lamar shared some of the eye-opening and outrageous experiences Lacey had faced in Nebraska in their first book. Now, the dynamic duo makes it clear - Lacey isn't the only one in the family with ridiculous encounters to share! Amber and Lacey have many more uproarious stories, both from their own lives and the entire Ruffin family.

Recounting the wildest tales of racism from their parents, their siblings, and Amber's nieces and nephews, this intergenerational look at ludicrous (but all too believable) everyday racism as experienced across age, gender, and appearance will have you gasping with shock and laughter in turn. Validating for anyone who has first-hand experience, and revealing for anyone who doesn't, Amber and Lacey's next book helps us all find the absurdity in the pervasive frustrations of racism. Illuminating and packed with love and laughter, this is a must-read for just about everyone."

I love Amber Ruffin.

Made With Love by Tom Daley
Published by: Dey Street Books
Publication Date: November 22nd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Olympic gold medal–winning diver and beloved LGBTQ icon Tom Daley offers thirty exclusive knitting and crocheting patterns to enjoy and share.

During the Tokyo Olympics, British diver Tom Daley was often spotted calming his nerves with knitting needles in hand. His new favorite hobby, which he picked up during the Covid lockdown, combined with his gold medal performance, won him a new legion of fans. In fact, his Olympic inspired cardigan, made just before he left for Japan, grabbed nearly as many headlines as his win.

In his native England, Daley is beloved as a four-time Olympic medalist, well-known television personality, and activist in the LGBTQ space. In addition, Daley and his husband, the Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, are the parents of a toddler son, and many of Tom’s projects are adorable toys or clothes for Robbie.

Now Tom has created thirty original projects for this book, sharing his joy of knitting and crocheting as a calming and creative outlet alongside his charming, witty personality. Full color and totally bespoke for this book, these projects run the gamut from toys to clothing for adults and kids to home décor. Full of color, full of joy, and Made with Love™ (the name of Tom's online store, selling projects, patterns and branded merchandise) this is yarn crafts made very cool."

If you are like me and have been obsessed with Tom Daley since the Tokyo Olympics you've been asking yourself, when is he writing a knitting book!?! Well the answer is now. Here it is!

Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: November 22nd, 2022
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An interior designer who is never without the perfect plan learns to renovate her love life without one in this new romantic comedy by Ashley Herring Blake, author of Delilah Green Doesn't Care.

For Astrid Parker, failure is unacceptable. Ever since she broke up with her fiancé a year ago, she's been focused on her career - her friends might say she's obsessed, but she knows she's just driven. When Pru Everwood asks her to be the designer for the Everwood Inn's renovation, which will be featured on a popular HGTV show, Innside America, Astrid is thrilled. Not only will the project distract her from her failed engagement and help her struggling business, but her perpetually displeased mother might finally give her a nod of approval.

However, Astrid never planned on Jordan Everwood, Pru's granddaughter and the lead carpenter for the renovation, who despises every modern design decision Astrid makes. Jordan is determined to preserve the history of her family's inn, particularly as the rest of her life is in shambles. When that determination turns into some light sabotage to ruffle Astrid's perfect little feathers, the showrunners ask them to play up the tension. But somewhere along the way, their dislike for each other evolves into something quite different, and Astrid must decide what success truly means. Is she going to pursue the life that she's expected to lead or the one that she wants?"

Sold at the fake TV show being called Innside America.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amber Ruffin, Ashley Herring Blake, Bloody Benders, Camilla Bruce, Fairy Tale Retelling, Fairy Tales, Knitting, Lacey Lamar, Tom Daley, True Crime

Secrets of the Nile by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In a brilliant homage to Agatha Christie, critically acclaimed author Tasha Alexander sends Lady Emily to Egypt during British colonial rule to investigate a crime that leads back to the era of the Pharaohs.

In Secrets of the Nile, Lady Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves, have joined his formidable mother on a holiday to visit the exotic treasures of Egypt. Their host, Lord Bertram Deeley, is a renowned amateur British collector of antiquities, who has invited his closest friends on a lavish cruise up the Nile to his home at Luxor. But on the first night of their journey, he suddenly collapses after offering a welcome toast, a victim of the lethal poison cyanide. Who amongst this group of his nearest and dearest would want to kill their generous host?

Emily and Colin's investigation soon reveals that even his closest friends had reasons to want him dead: was it the archeologist whose dig Deeley was poised to fund until he suddenly withdrew support? The powerful politician whose career Deeley had secretly destroyed? The dyspeptic aristocratic English spinster whose hired travelling companion seems determined to protect her employer? Or could it be Mrs. Hargreaves herself, who may have spurned the advances of Lord Deeley when they were both younger?

A key clue may lie with several ancient ushabtis, exquisite three-thousand-year-old sculptures that played a role in a hidden story from the time of Ancient Egypt, one of a sister's unshakeable loyalty to her brother, a tale of betrayal and revenge. In an unforgettable finale, Emily and Colin gather their fellow travelers together to unmask a killer whose motive is as shocking as it is brilliant."

If you're a Lady Emily fan, you will adore it. If you're an Agatha Christie fan, you will love it. If you're an Elizabeth Peters fan, you will squeal with glee. Emily's long awaited trip to Egypt has arrived and it is a trip of a lifetime.

All That is Wicked by Kate Winkler Dawson
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Acclaimed crime historian, podcaster, and author of American Sherlock Kate Winkler Dawson tells the thrilling story of Edward Rulloff - a serial murderer who was called "too intelligent to be killed" - and the array of 19th century investigators who were convinced his brain held the key to finally understanding the criminal mind.

Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer - some have called him a "Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter" - whose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity. From his humble beginnings in upstate New York to the dazzling salons and social life he established in New York City, at every turn Rulloff used his intelligence and regal bearing to evade detection and avoid punishment. He could talk his way out of any crime...until one day, Rulloff's luck ran out.

By 1871 Rulloff sat chained in his cell - a psychopath holding court while curious 19th-century "mindhunters" tried to understand what made him tick. From alienists (early psychiatrists who tried to analyze the source of his madness) to neurologists (who wanted to dissect his brain) to phrenologists (who analyzed the bumps on his head to determine his character), each one thought he held the key to understanding the essential question: is evil born or made? Eventually, Rulloff's brain would be placed in a jar at Cornell University as the prize specimen of their anatomy collection...where it still sits today, slowly moldering in a dusty jar. But his story - and its implications for the emerging field of criminal psychology - were just beginning.

Expanded from season one of her hit podcast on the Exactly Right network (7 million downloads and growing), in All That Is Wicked Kate Winkler Dawson draws on hundreds of source materials and never-before-shared historical documents to present one of the first glimpses into the mind of a serial killer - a century before the term was coined - through the scientists whose work would come to influence criminal justice for decades to come."

How have I never heard of Edward Rulloff until now!?!

In the Shadow of a Queen by Heather B. Moore
Published by: Shadow Mountain
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Based on the True Story of the Free-Spirited Daughter of Queen Victoria.

Princess Louise's life is upended after her father's untimely death. Captive to the queen's overwhelming mourning, Louise is forbidden to leave her mother's tight circle of control and is eventually relegated to the position of personal secretary to her mother - the same position each of her sisters held until they were married.

Already an accomplished painter, Louise risks the queen's wrath by exploring the art of sculpting, an activity viewed as unbefitting a woman. When Louise involves herself in the day's political matters, including championing the career of a female doctor and communicating with suffragettes, the queen lays down the law to stop her and devotes her full energy to finding an acceptable match for her defiant daughter.

Louise is considered the most beautiful and talented daughter of Queen Victoria, but finding a match for the princess is no easy feat. Protocols are broken, and Louise exerts her own will as she tries to find an open-minded husband who will support her free spirit.

In the Shadow of a Queen is the story of a battle of wills between two women: a daughter determined to forge her own life beyond the shadow of her mother, and a queen resolved to keep the Crown's reputation unsullied no matter the cost."

I seriously love Princess Louise and am always intrigued by the hypocrisy of Queen Victoria who on the one hand ruled the realm and on the other raised her daughters to be dutiful wives and mothers.

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"S.T. Gibson's sensational novel is the darkly seductive tale of Dracula's first bride, Constanta.

This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession...

Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.

Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death."

I don't think enough is written about the fact that Dracula had multiple wives and wasn't only obsessed with Mina.

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A vivid reimagining of the woman who inspired Hester Prynne, the tragic heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and a journey into the enduring legacy of New England's witchcraft trials.

Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Glasgow for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic - leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible.

When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows -  while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward's safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which?

In this sensuous and hypnotizing tale, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country's complicated past, and learns that America's ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel's story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a "real" American in the first half of the 19th century, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of "unusual" women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined, Laurie Lico Albanese's Hester is a timeless tale of art, ambition, and desire that examines the roots of female creative power and the men who try to shut it down."

I love women reclaiming the narrative of stories that are ingrained in us due to high school literature classes.

The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond by Amanda Glaze
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Travel beyond the veil in this thrilling and chilling supernatural debut with timely feminist themes, perfect for fans of Kerri Maniscalco - inspired by lives of real teenage twin mediums in the 19th century.

Sacramento, 1885

Edie and Violet Bond know the truth about death. The seventeen-year-old twins are powerful mediums, just like their mother - Violet can open the veil between life and death, and Edie can cross into the spirit world. But their abilities couldn't save them when their mother died and their father threatened to commit them to a notorious asylum.

Now runaways, Edie and Violet are part of a traveling Spiritualist show, a tight-knit group of young women who demonstrate their real talents under the guise of communing with spirits. Each night, actresses, poets, musicians, and orators all make contact with spirits who happen to have something to say...notions that young ladies could never openly express.

But when Violet's act goes terribly wrong one night, Edie learns that the dark spirit responsible for their mother's death has crossed into the land of the living. As they investigate the identity of her mysterious final client, they realize that someone is hunting mediums...and they may be next. Only by trusting in one another can the twins uncover a killer who will stop at nothing to cheat death."

Aw yeah, bring on the mediums!

The Witch in the Well by Camilla Bruce
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Witch in the Well is a dark Norwegian thriller from Camilla Bruce, author of You Let Me In.

When two former friends reunite after decades apart, their grudges, flawed ambitions, and shared obsession swirl into an all-too-real echo of a terrible town legend.

Centuries ago, beautiful young Ilsbeth Clark was accused of witchcraft after several children disappeared. Her acquittal did nothing to stop her fellow townsfolk from drowning her in the well where the missing children were last seen.

When author and social media influencer Elena returns to the summer paradise of her youth to get her family's manor house ready to sell, the last thing she expected was connecting with - and feeling inspired to write about - Ilsbeth's infamous spirit. The very historical figure that her ex-childhood friend, Cathy, has been diligently researching and writing about for years.

What begins as a fiercely competitive sense of ownership over Ilsbeth and her story soon turns both women's worlds into something more haunted and dangerous than they could ever imagine."

Writing about the past can be dangerous!

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters
Published by: HarperTeen
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Enter Cloudkiss Canyon at your own risk.

Sadie meets Wilder Girls in this unnerving tale about the struggle for survival, the twisted satisfaction of revenge, and the darkness hiding in all of us. From Erica Waters, the acclaimed author of Ghost Wood Song and The River Has Teeth, this mystery will haunt you to the end.

The Cloudkiss Killer is dead. Now a true-crime podcast is hosting a contest to find his bones.

Lucy was almost the serial killer's final victim. Carolina is a true-crime fan who fears her own rage. Maggie is a psychology student with a little too much to hide.

All of them are looking for answers, for a new identity, for a place to bury their secrets.

But there are more than bones hiding in the shadows…sometimes the darkness inside is more frightening than anything the dead leave behind."

True-crime podcast and a serial killer, I'm in.

Malice House by Megan Shepherd
Published by: Hyperion Avenue
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd comes a complex tale of dark magic, family secrets, and monsters that don’t stay on the page.

"One step away from our world lies another: a land of violent fantasies, of sharp-toothed delights...."

Of all the things aspiring artist Haven Marbury expected to find while clearing out her late father's remote seaside house, Bedtime Stories for Monsters was not on the list. This secret handwritten manuscript is disturbingly different from his Pulitzer-winning works: its interweaving short stories crawl with horrific monsters and enigmatic humans that exist somewhere between this world and the next. The stories unsettle but also entice Haven, practically compelling her to illustrate them while she stays in the house that her father warned her was haunted. Clearly just dementia whispering in his ear...right?

Reeling from a failed marriage, Haven hopes an illustrated Bedtime Stories can be the lucrative posthumous father-daughter collaboration she desperately needs to jump-start her art career. However, everyone in the nearby vacation town wants a piece of the manuscript: her father's obsessive literary salon members, the Ink Drinkers; her mysterious yet charming neighbor, who has a tendency toward three a.m. bonfires; a young barista with a literary forgery business; and of course, whoever keeps trying to break into her house. But when a monstrous creature appears under Haven's bed right as grisly deaths are reported in the nearby woods, she must race to uncover dark, otherworldly family secrets - completely rewriting everything she ever knew about herself in the process."

It's like Kate Morton but with menacing magic, who doesn't want that in their lives!?!

The White Hare by Jane Johnson
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Alice Hoffman and Kate Morton, The White Hare is a spellbinding novel about mothers and daughters finding a new home for themselves, the secrets they try to bury, and the local legends that may change their lives.

In the far west of Cornwall lies the White Valley, which cuts deeply through bluebell woods down to the sea at White Cove. The valley has a long and bloody history, laced with folklore, and in it sits a house above the beach that has lain neglected since the war. It comes with a reputation and a strange atmosphere, which is why mother and daughter Magdalena and Mila manage to acquire it so cheaply in the fateful summer of 1954.

Magda has grand plans to restore the house to its former glory as a venue for glittering parties, where the rich and celebrated gathered for cocktails and for bracing walks along the coast. Her grown daughter, Mila, just wants to escape the scandal in her past and make a safe and happy home for her little girl, Janey, a solitary, precocious child blessed with a vivid imagination, much of which she pours into stories about her magical plush toy, Rabbit.

But Janey's rabbit isn’t the only magical being around. Legend has it that an enchanted white hare may be seen running through the woods. Is it an ill omen or a blessing? As Mila, her mother, and her young daughter adjust to life in this mysterious place, they will have to reckon with their own pasts and with the secrets that have been haunting the White Valley for decades."

And speaking of Kate Morton-esque books...

In Myrtle Peril by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Published by: Algonquin Young Readers
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Myrtle Hardcastle - twelve-year-old Victorian Amateur Detective - returns to investigate the case of a missing heiress lost at sea, an inquiry that runs aground when a murder in plain sight has no apparent victim.

When a mysterious girl attempts to stake her claim to the Snowcroft family fortune, Myrtle Hardcastle's father, a lawyer, is asked to help prove - or disprove - the girl's identity. Is this truly Ethel Snowcroft, believed to be lost at sea with her parents, or a con artist chasing a windfall? Mr. Hardcastle's pursuit of the case takes a detour when he's hospitalized for a tonsillectomy - only to witness a murder. Or does he? With no body at the scene, Myrtle and her governess, Miss Judson, fear the so-called murder was a feverish delusion - until a critical piece of evidence appears.

But where's the victim? And who at the hospital could be harboring murderous intent? Myrtle is determined to find out before the killer comes after her father.

With stakes this high, her sleuthing has put Myrtle, her family, and the patients and staff at the Royal Swinburne Hospital In Myrtle Peril."

I can't get enough of precocious Victorian children sleuths!

Mystery in Provence by Vivian Conroy
Published by: One More Chapter
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Kindle, 314 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Agatha Christie meets Julie Caplin in this exciting new series that whisks you away to the most gorgeous escapist destinations!

A beautiful French estate.
A wedding.
A murder.
And a novice detective intent on solving her first case!

Fresh from teaching at her prestigious Swiss boarding school, Miss Atalanta Ashford suddenly finds herself the most eligible young lady in society when she inherits her grandfather’s substantial fortune. But with this fortune, and an elegant new Parisian home, comes a legacy passed down from grandfather to granddaughter…sleuthing discreetly for Europe’s elite.

This young lady isn't one to back down from a challenge and Miss Ashford must depend on her sharp wit and charm to solve her first case, which takes her to the lush lavender fields of Provence and a wedding at the mansion of the Comte de Surmonne.

Now, as murder strikes twice, Atalanta will have to race to solve the case but will she be able to stop the blushing bride from facing a fatal 'I do?'"

Who doesn't want to be transported to a wonderful location for a thrilling murder mystery?

Murder After Christmas by Rupert Latimer
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""A war's on and a murder has been committed - and we sit here talking nonsense about almond whirls and mince pies!"

Good old Uncle Willie - known for an insatiable sweet tooth and being an epic pain in the rear - has come to stay with the Redpaths for the holidays. As luck would have it, he's found dead in the snow, in a Santa suit on Boxing Day. It seems as though someone may have poisoned his chocolate...or was it the mince pie? As the police flock to the house, Willie's descendants, past lovers and distant relatives are drawn into a perplexing investigation to find out how the old man met his fate, and who stands to gain by such an unseasonable crime.

First published in 1944, Murder After Christmas is a lively riot of murder, holiday desserts, and misdirection, cleverly twisting the tropes of Golden Age detective fiction to create a pacey, light-hearted package admirably suited for the holiday season. Featuring an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger Award-winning author and series editor Martin Edwards."

The TOP of my Christmas reading list this year!

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Twelve clues. Twelve keys. Twelve days of Christmas. But how many will die before Twelfth Night?

Agatha Christie meets Clue in this delightful, tense manor house murder mystery.

The annual Christmas Game is afoot at Endgame House, the Armitages' grand family home. This year's prize is to die for - deeds to the house itself - but Lily Armitage has no intention of returning. She hasn't been back to Endgame since her mother died, twenty-one years ago, and she has no intention of claiming the house that haunts her dreams.

Until, that is, she receives a letter from her aunt promising that the game's riddles will give her the keys not only to Endgame, but to its darkest secrets, including the identity of her mother's murderer.

Now, Lily must compete with her estranged cousins for the twelve days of Christmas. The snow is thick, the phone lines are down, and no one is getting in or out. Lily will have to keep her wits about her, because not everyone is playing fair, and there's no telling how many will die before the winner is declared.

Including additional scavenger hunts for the reader, this clever murder mystery is the perfect gift for fans of classic mysteries, festive Christmas books, and armchair detective work."

Christmas plus Clue, color me sold!

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo
Published by: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Last Night at the Telegraph Club author Malinda Lo returns to the Bay Area with another masterful queer coming-of-age story, this time set against the backdrop of the first major Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage.

Aria Tang West was looking forward to a summer on Martha's Vineyard with her best friends - one last round of sand and sun before college. But after a graduation party goes wrong, Aria's parents exile her to California to stay with her grandmother, artist Joan West. Aria expects boredom, but what she finds is Steph Nichols, her grandmother's gardener. Soon, Aria is second-guessing who she is and what she wants to be, and a summer that once seemed lost becomes unforgettable - for Aria, her family, and the working-class queer community Steph introduces her to. It's the kind of summer that changes a life forever.

And almost sixty years after the end of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, A Scatter of Light also offers a glimpse into Lily and Kath's lives since 1955."

If you wanted more of Lily and Kath or if you just wanted more in this uplifting series, this book is for you.

Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When her long-lost cousin comes back to town just in time for the holidays, Lila Macapagal knows that big trouble can't be far behind in this new mystery by Mia P. Manansala, author of Arsenic and Adobo.

It's Christmastime in Shady Palms, but things are far from jolly for Lila Macapagal. Sure, her new business, the Brew-ha Cafe, is looking to turn a profit in its first year. And yes, she's taken the first step in a new romance with her good friend Jae Park. But her cousin Ronnie is back in town after ghosting the family fifteen years ago, claiming that his recent purchase of a local winery shows that he's back on his feet and ready to contribute to the Shady Palms community. Tita Rosie is thrilled with the return of her prodigal son, but Lila knows that wherever Ronnie goes, trouble follows.

She's soon proven right when Ronnie is suspected of murder, and secrets surrounding her shady cousin and those involved with the winery start piling up. Now Lila has to put away years of resentment and distrust to prove her cousin's innocence. He may be a jerk, but he's still family. And there's no way her flesh and blood could actually be a murderer...right?"

Yet ANOTHER book on my holiday reading list this year.

Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne
Published by: Crown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The new homecoming queen is dead...and she's not the first unsolved murder at Seaview High. From the critically acclaimed author of The Ivies comes a nonstop YA thriller about a decades-old mystery, a copycat killer, and the teen who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth.

After the death of her mom (screw cancer), seventeen-year-old Cecelia Ellis goes to live with her estranged grandmother, a celebrated author whose Victorian mansion is as creepy as the murder mysteries she writes. On the surface, life is utterly ordinary in the California coastal town...until the homecoming queen is murdered. And she's not Seaview’s first pretty dead queen.

With a copycat killer on the loose, Cecelia throws herself into the investigation, determined to crack the case like the heroines in her grandmother's books. But the more Cecelia digs into the town’s secrets, the more she worries that her own mystery might not have a storybook ending."

It's like Nancy Drew and V.C. Andrews and Jessica Fletcher had a baby!

The Family Home by Miranda Smith
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 292 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There's a dead man in my apartment. Only me and my ex have a key. But neither of us would have done this. We have too much to lose...

I wake on the sofa, my head throbbing. How did I get here? In the darkness, I make my way to my bedroom. I turn on the lights. And then I scream.

There's a body in my bed. And I know this man: we went on two dates together. Who could have killed him? And how did he get in? Only two people have a key to the house: me and my ex-husband Matthew.

I trust Matthew. With what we're hiding, I have to. And I can't risk the police digging into our past, or learning about the night when we drank champagne on the cliff and ruined everything.

Someone knows our secret. We have to find out what they want. But am I wrong to believe Matthew, when I know how well he can lie? And how can I save myself, when the truth might destroy me?

An absolutely gripping thriller that will keep you reading late into the night, unable to put the book down for a second. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, Ruth Ware and Lisa Jewell."

A twist on the locked room!

Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside her white rust belt town. But she's not the first - and she may not be the last....

It's watching.

Liz Rocher is coming home...reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn't exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward, passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the day of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the couple's daughter, Caroline, disappears - and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood.

It's taking.

As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: A summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She's seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in Liz's high school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart removed. Liz shudders at the thought that it could have been her, and now, with Caroline missing, it can't be a coincidence. As Liz starts to dig through the town's history, she uncovers a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Children have been going missing in these woods for years. All of them Black. All of them girls.

It's your turn.

With the evil in the forest creeping closer, Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness."

So spooky and yet so tragically believable that a town would right over the disappearances.

Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Amateur detective Mallory Viridian's talent for solving murders ruined her life on Earth and drove her to live on an alien space station, but her problems still follow her in this witty, self-aware novel that puts a speculative spin on murder mysteries, from the Hugo-nominated author of Six Wakes.

From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn't make you a charming amateur detective, it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet…and markedly devoid of homicide.

But when the station agrees to allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar reality is over. After the first Earth shuttle arrives, and aliens and humans alike begin to die, the station is thrown into peril. Stuck smack-dab in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit, and wondering how in the world this keeps happening to her anyway, Mallory has to solve the crime - and fast - or the list of victims could grow to include everyone on board...."

Everything about this book is so original, but the fact that the series is called "The Midsolar Murders" slays me!

What Song the Sirens Sang by Simon R. Green
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The tables are turned on legendary master thief Gideon Sable when a priceless magical artifact is stolen from him, in this fast-paced supernatural heist thriller.

You can find everything you've ever dreamed of in the strange, old magical shop known as Old Harry's Place. The problem is, not all dreams are kind.

Gideon Sable - legendary master thief, conman and well-dressed rogue - and his partner in crime Annie Anybody don't want to be shopkeepers, but when the enigmatic Harry decides to retire, he blackmails the pair into taking the store on.

Before the grand reopening can happen, however, a menacing stranger arrives - with a rare and deadly item for them to appraise. A small piece of rock, with an unnerving aura, which 'Smith' claims contains the last echoes of the legendary sirens' song. Before they can find out more, however, Smith vanishes...leaving only the stone.

Some valuables are more trouble than they're worth. But before Gideon and Annie can work out if they've been set up, the stone is stolen from its impregnable hiding place. How? And why? Gideon only knows one thing for certain: no one steals from him and gets away with it...

What Song the Sirens Sang is the third supernatural heist thriller featuring master conman Gideon Sable from British SFF veteran and New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green, following The Best Thing You Can Steal and A Matter of Death and Life."

I love supernatural heists!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexandra Benedict, Camilla Bruce, Elizabeth C. Bunce, Erica Waters, Jane Johnson, Lady Emily, Malinda Lo, Megan Shepherd, Mia P. Manansala, Rupert Latimer, Simon R. Green, Tasha Alexander, Vivian Conroy